Thousands gathered on Sunday in Belgrade, Serbia, to protest the government’s alleged repression of environmental activists who continue to oppose what could be one of the largest greenfield lithium projects in the world.
Protestors gathered outside the headquarters of the state-owned television station Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) to demand better media coverage of their activism against the mine. They claimed environmental activists had been detained and subject to unlawful search and seizure following related rallies on August 10. Environmental group Eko Straza, which claimed five of their activists were detained, named the Sunday rally “safety in numbers.” According to the group, the goal of the rally was to support all activists who were arrested based on the accusation of “violent overthrow of the constitutional order,” as well as others, who had their apartments broken into, or had their phones and laptops confiscated.
The large lithium mine in Jadar Valley — the “Jadar Project” — would be run by the British-Australian multinational mining company Rio Tinto. It would be one of the largest greenfield lithium projects in the world. Against fears from environmental activists that the mine will cause irreparable damage to the local environment, Rio Tinto maintains that “[t]he Jadar Project can act as a catalyst for the development of a wider EV value chain creating thousands of new high-paid, high-skilled Serbian jobs for generations to come while meeting the highest environmental standards.”
The proposed mine is a product of a Memorandum of Understanding between Serbia and the EU. The Serbian government announced the deal in July, citing value chain potential, job opportunities and the strengthening of the Serbian economy. European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said the signature “lays an important foundation for Serbia’s deepened integration into EU’s green technology supply chains, supporting the key objectives of the EU’s New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.”
